Flock of Clouds
by Dream Kitten
Summary: Due to a disaster of cosmic proportions there are not only one, but FIVE Clouds running around, all of different age. They must come together to fix this mistake, but things are never easy when ShinRa's involved.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors note: I saw a picture on DeviantArt called 'Types of Cloud' by meru-chan and immediately my devious mind set to plotting this story. Honestly, I'm pulling my hair out since I'm working on two ongoing stories already and SERIOUSLY don't need another, but the idea won't leave me alone! Ah well, I just hope I'll manage.**

* * *

_In every universe, there is a word, or a sentence that will raise hairs on the neck of even the hardest and the toughest of warriors, something so terrifying that will even send Gods screaming and running for cover. Thankfully, those times were rare (but not rare enough if you ask Kuja). Now this is a story of one such event. It was a terrifying sound to whoever heard it… One boy with a monkey tail curiously said…_

_"Hey, what does this button do?"_

* * *

Nibelheim was a small town, not even worthy of a small dot on the world map. It was rarely visited by any travelers, only sometimes a lost merchant on their way to Rocket town would step foot in the little mountain range village. Therefore, it was a very closed community, one where a bastard child of a single mother had no chance of an easy life.

It was one of the reasons why Skye Strife, when she looked at her seven year old son standing in the doorway covered in bruises, gashes and scratches, only offered him a sympathetic smile and called him in to properly bandage him up. The little boy with eyes as blue as the clear sky and hair as yellow and untamed as a wild cocobo just nodded and followed her into the house. As if they did it every day the mother sat her child on a stool and pulled out a med kit. The boy didn't even flinch anymore when the disinfect was sprayed on his wounds.

"Who was it this time Cloud?" Skye asked as she put gauze on a particularly deep gash on her son's leg.

"Rodric's big brother." Cloud said sullenly. "He beat me up because I got into a fight with Rodric yesterday." It was a rough fight, Rodric was bigger than Cloud and older by almost a year. It wasn't really fair, and Cloud got beaten up pretty badly. Still, he gave as good as he got. While he walked away with bruised ribs, ringing ears and black bruises, Rodrick was full of deep scratches, a few bite marks, most of which were bleeding and a twisted ankle when Cloud managed to knock him down by hitting the back of his knees. So while Rodrick was down he bolted away before his friends decided to join him. And today on his way home, Rodrick's brother, Richard, pulled him aside and gave him a sound beating.

"Why can't I have a big brother?" Cloud asked his mother poutily as she applied a band aid on his bruised nose.

"Because I didn't have any children before you. And even if I had any after, _you_ would be their big brother." Skye explained with all the patience of a loving mother.

"But I don't _want _a little brother, I want a big one, so he can beat up Rod and his dumbass brother!" Cloud clenched his little fists and shouted angrily.

"Cloud, language!" Skye admonished her son sternly. "Where did you even hear that word? Certainly not from me!"

"Rodrick's brother called me that. And you said it 'takes one to know one', so that makes him a dumbass!" Cloud hopped from the stool and followed his mother as she put the med kit away. They went to the kitchen where a pot of cooling stew sat on the cooker.

"Dinner!" Hanah just told her son and filled two bowls with the stew and added a slice of bread to each. Cloud jumped onto the kitchen chair and dug in as the bowl was placed before him. After dinner Skye sent her son to bed, tucked him in and went to her own room to fix Cloud's torn clothes. She wished her son didn't get into so many fights. Winter was coming rapidly and she couldn't afford another set of clothes for him.

Cloud lay awake in his bed, the pain from his wounds not allowing his peace even during the night. Unable to sleep, he sat up in his bed and looked up at the stars. Tifa, the only girl in the entire town who was even remotely nice to him once said that stars fell from somewhere far away, and whoever saw a falling star and made a wish upon it, the star stopped to fulfill their wish, and stayed there as a testimony that she already granted a wish. Cloud sighed. If only it were true. He crossed his arms and held his head on them on the windowsill.

* * *

_In another part of the universe, another spiky haired blonde's hair became as stiff as needles at the sound of the most dangerous sentence Zidane ever uttered._

_"Oh, what does this button do?" The young monkey boy curiously inquired and went to press the big shiny button. A big shiny button that had a giant red warning sign above it 'DO NO TOUCH'._

_"Nooooooo!" Cloud ran with all the speed of terrified desperate panic to try and stop Zidane from pushing the button that he just _KNEW_ was going to do something terrible. But he came too late. Zidane had pushed what turned out to be an activation switch of the force field Cloud was above that moment. As a pillar of light that rose from it engulfed Cloud, an ear splitting screech was heard. Zidane had to cover his eyes from the blinding flash that erupted and covered everything. At that precise moment, Zidane was pretty sure he wasn't going to make it. And the last though that ever crossed his mind?_

_'At least Kuja won't be able to laugh in my face.'_

* * *

Little Cloud's head shot up when he saw a flash in the sky out of his peripheral vision. He couldn't believe it! There, in the middle of the starry sky, was a falling star! Quickly, Cloud pressed his palms together and closed his eyes tightly, just like Tifa had told him to.

'I wish I had a big brother!' He wished with all his might.

Not a second after he thought that, what he thought was a shooting star exploded in the middle of the night sky into stardust, disappearing, and leaving only a faint glow behind. Amazed, Cloud took it as a sign that his wish was heard. Smiling happily, his pains completely forgotten, Cloud laid his little spiky head on his pillow and was out like a light. When he woke up the next day, he had forgotten all about the shooting star and his wish. But the star didn't.

Far, far away, in the biggest city in the world that bore the name of the city of the Gods, a blonde haired youth woke up and jumped out of the cheap hotel bed into his clothes. He would be applying for the SOLDIER today! It had been his dream ever since he had seen the picture of the great General Sephiroth in the newspapers. And today, he was getting one step closer to completing it!

With that thought in mind, Cloud picked up his duffel bag and headed to the ShinRa complex, where the registration booth was.

Not far out of the great city of Midgar, on the small cliff of the Midgar wastes, another blonde spiky haired man awoke, this one older by than the last by a few years. His head was muddled. Who was he? What was he doing here? As he sat up, something banged lightly against his hip. He looked down and saw a sword almost as long as he was tall and weighted two times more. Then everything came to him with the force of a crashing airplane. He was Cloud Strife, ex 1st class SOLDIER! Yes, he remembered, he had been going back to Midgar to become a mercenary! Wait, what was he doing here then?

Cloud just shrugged picked up his sword, figuring he would remember sooner or later. So for now, he set his sword on his back with practiced ease and set pace to his original destination: Midgar city.

In the slums of the same city he was going to, yet another spiky haired person awoke. At the Honey Bee inn to be exact. It was a young blonde woman who the girls working at the inn found in a purple dress near Don Corneo's mansion and of course, assumed the worst. As she woke, she tried to sit up from the bed with a groan, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her from rising completely.

"Shh, you need to rest, it looks like you've been through some rough times." A gentle female voice soothed her. When the girl opened her eyes she saw a blurry figure that slowly sharpened into a form of a young woman with middle length black hair tied into two high ponytails.

"Where am I?" The blonde ground out. Her head was spinning like crazy, and she didn't even know why!

"You're at the Honey Bee inn. My name is Darla, and I… Uh, work here." The woman now identified as Darla smiled at her, but she noticed the pause. Her every instinct told her she was hiding something. But before she could question her about it Darla quickly stood up from the chair she had been sitting on and picked up a couple of pills and a glass of water which she offered to the stranger girl.

"Your head must hurt, right? Do you want some aspirin?" She offered the blonde woman the pills and the glass which she took gratefully.

"May I ask for your name?" Darla asked politely as the girl drank her pills.

When she lowered the glass the girl uttered "I'm Cloud."

And far, far away, in the city that the Ancients once resided in, but now was simply called the Forgotten city, a blonde man clad in leather clothes awoke next to the sparkly surface of the lake. However, once he assessed where he was, he just groaned and let his head fall back on the ground.

"Not again!"

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AN: What do you think?


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: This thing still won't leave me alone! Whatevs', enjoy and if you review this thing will get even more chapters! I just don't know how in seven Hells am I going to do it with my scheduale.**

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When Cloud finally got up he groaned out loud. He couldn't believe he ended up here again. Of all places to run off to when he was having nightmares, he had to go across half the country all the way to the lake that had been Aerith's grave. Cloud cast a sorrowful look at the lake. Aerith had already said she forgave him for his sins, but it didn't make her passing any less painful. He turned to leave, the place was making memories he really didn't want to relive surface.

He was stopped by a flash of powerful light that appeared behind his back. Cloud turned swiftly on instinct and had to cover his eyes from the light. It was coming right from the middle of Aerith's lake! Once the flash had subsided Cloud lowered his arms and reached for his sword to smite whatever monster tried to sully the sacred lake.

He stopped however when he saw who was standing on the water's surface. A girl with the face of an angel, her curly chestnut hair done in a braid. She wore a light pinkish purple dress with metal seams and metal plated boots the same color as the dress.

"Aerith!" Cloud wasn't sure if he should be feeling shocked or overjoyed. Aerith was here! But he thought that she couldn't enter the world of the living again.

"Why are you here? I thought you were dead?" Cloud winced as the words left his mouth. Subtlety was never one of his strong points.

"Yeah, I guess I am." Aerith smiled, her voice like thousands of bells that made Cloud think of the voice of the Planet itself. "To this world at least."

"Huh?" Riddles were _also_ not his strong point. But Aerith just smiled that girlish smile of hers that made Cloud want to hug her, to feel if she really were here and alive and not just a figment of his fractured mind. She walked on the water over to him and cupped his face in her hands.

"Never mind Cloud, I came here to tell you something important." Her voice serious, Aerith leant in so she was almost touching noses with him.

"What is it?" Cloud's own hands came up over hers. Gods, she really was here…

"There had been an… accident, you can say. It caused a space vide pulse which created a rift in the space/time flux. To sum it up, you could say it made different time periods of the same universe merge together." She looked down.

"What do you mean Aerith?" Cloud barely understood half of what she was saying. Since when did she know the laws of quantum mechanics and their workings anyway?

"It was actually because of that rift I was able to contact you." Aerith looked him straight in the eyes again. For a second, her green eyes made him think she was older than he remembered her.

"I'm also not exactly the Aerith you know."

"What? Of course you are, I know you Aerith, nobody can replace you! You'll always be you, no matter if you're dead or alive." Cloud denied vehemently. He grabbed Aerith's hands in his and held them tightly, as if she would disappear if he let go.

"No, you don't understand! Spiritually, I'm the same Aerith, but not from the time you know." She quickly soothed him. "As you are not in the time you know. To this world, you do not exist the way you are yet, just as I don't exist to your world as I am yet." To Cloud it didn't make any sense, but Aerith continued.

"But the worlds of different times are now forced together, and only the physical distance separates them. Thankfully, this anomaly is somehow centered directly on you, but there are people who would try to abuse it. I'm afraid I won't be of much help to you, because I need to find the source of the rift and fix it. Unfortunately the rift cannot be closed with you as scattered as you are. So you have to find yourself, and piece the puzzle together. When you are, and the rift closes, you will be complete again." Just as she said that she started glowing, and her hands fell through Cloud's. He tried to reach her again, but his hand went through hers, as if she were a hologram.

"I don't have enough energy to sustain myself here for long." Aerith said sadly, but she brushed her fingers lightly across his forehead. They felt like a caress of a breeze, not of a hand. "But now that he has passed away, the least I could do to help you is to give you his knowledge. When you are in need, you will know what to do."

Those words said, she disappeared with a flash of light, in the same way she came to be. When Cloud opened his eyes, the lake was the same as it was when he woke up: clear, shimmering, and no future Aerith standing on its surface.

Cloud's head spun. What did she mean 'times were merging'? Did that mean he would meet his past self? It sounded impossible, but then again, he had seen weirder. She also said he had to 'find himself and complete the puzzle'. So that meant there was more than one clone running around. Cloud groaned. If _Vincent _complained that he was hard to catch when he was running away somewhere, he was in way over his head here.

Nevertheless, he turned away from the lake and walked out of the woods with long strides, refusing to believe that, in a way, he had failed Aerith again. This time, he would do his damned best not to let her down.

* * *

"This isn't exactly what I signed up for." A cadet scrubbing the hallway muttered. He and his black haired companion were late for drills that morning by three minutes, and their punishment was three hours of cleanup duty.

"I hear ya buddy. When I came here I… Well, I'm not sure what I was exactly expecting, but this was really low on the list. And you've just signed up, I've been here for two months! And when you like sleeping like I do, you're gonna pile up a crapload of cleaning hours. ShinRa is just penny pinching like that, instead of hiring a cleaning staff, they make double use of us poor cadets! Did I ever tell you about that time-"

"Yes, I'm pretty sure you've told me about it before. But only about a couple hundred times." Cloud rolled his eyes at his companion.

"Hey, how do you know what I was going to say!?" The raven head looked up from his task to glare accusingly at his friend.

"Because you always tell the same story about how commander Hewley caught you rushing into class and then pointed out that you forgot your pants?" Cloud raised an eyebrow at him.

"Okay, yeah, I was going to tell that, but the guy could have at least had the decency not to look like he was going to burst a spleen trying not to laugh!" The older cadet went back to his task sullenly. "And I'm pretty sure I haven't told you this one! I was going on my merry way yesterday and-"

"And you saw commander Hewley in the hallway who called you the 'cadet who forgot his pants'. And you pretty much ranted about how embarrassed you were for an hour straight, if you remember."

"And what was I supposed to say? 'Yup', that's me, nice to meet you?' You know I idolize the guy just as much as you do General Sephiroth!"

"Sure, make it a public knowledge, as if don't have enough people picking on me already." Cloud muttered it under his breath but his friend somehow caught on it anyway.

"Hey, sorry, I didn't mean it like that! I just-"

"I know, you were just being an idiot."

"Part of my natural charm!"

"What charm? The one that makes your pants fall off? OUCH! ZACK!" Cloud rubbed a newly formed bump on his head where his friend had cuffed him with the brush.

"That's what you get for- KYAAAA!" Zack screeched like a girl when cold and dirty water was splashed into his face.

"Oh, it's ON!"

And the fight of the cleaning supplies began.

* * *

"Why did I sign up for this again?" A blonde spiky haired girl squirmed as her friend and now a coworker, Darla, tried to fit her into a dress that didn't cover nearly as much as it should, in her opinion.

"When I asked you if you would like a job you said yes."

"That's because I didn't know I would have to dress like this!" Cloud squirmed some more and then gasped as Darla pulled the laces on her corset.

"Well you can't wear that _awful_ jumpsuit you wore when we found you! Why would you even wear something like that under a dress?"

"Told you… I don't… know…" Cloud's reply came out in gasps. The corset was so tight she could barely breathe. Darla quickly loosened the laces a little. The last thing she needed was for the blonde to pass out.

"Right, I almost forgot you have amnesia. At least you didn't forget how to fight. We've been planning to hire a bodyguard for the girls since some customers can get a little… rough. But we didn't want to hire some muscle head with zero subtlety, those guys scare always a fair bit of our customers. You on the other hand nobody will suspect. At least as long as you dress like the rest of us."

"Like a prostitute in a bug costume?" Cloud muttered under her breath but Darla ignored her comment. She had already learned that the blonde had a sharp tongue and was pretty blunt with words. Thankfully, Cloud had quickly caught on that if she couldn't keep the remarks to herself, she could at least not shout them so the entire inn could hear her.

"Done!" Darla proudly declared and stepped back to admire her masterpiece.

Cloud was dressed in a shortest mini dress ever invented that left her long legs completely uncovered. It was yellow with black horizontal lines all the way from the hem to the strapless pushup bust. To the back were glued a pair of bee wings. The look was completed with a pair of bee antennae and a pair of small black flats. Darla wanted to give her some black heels but that option was ruled out when Cloud kept losing balance with every step.

"You look great!" Darla complimented her and pulled Cloud out before she had a chance to look into the mirror. Another last thing she needed was the blonde girl losing her nerve on the first day of her job as a Honeybee bodyguard.

* * *

"YEEE-HAAA! Now that's what I'm talking about!" Cloud yelled in glee as he straddled a Custom Sweeper's head so he couldn't shoot him. The poor monster looked around in panic, wondering where its target disappeared off to. Cloud, feeling mischievous, knocked on its head. The result was a sudden jerk backwards that made Cloud almost fall off. As it was, he quickly thrust the Buster Sword through its metal head, effectively splitting it in half and keeping himself stable at the same time.

"Well, that's another one down- Hey, give that back!" He didn't really have time to gloat as a Prowler was getting away with the money it Stole off him. He earned that Gil slaying monsters in the slums, which wasn't the easiest job ever, and he'd be dammed if he let some measly Prowler get away with it! He quickly gave chase, Buster Sword ready to strike. Unfortunately, the thing was fast, and it was making its way out to the Midgar wastes. If it wasn't for the fact that it managed to steal all the money he had in his pocket, Cloud would have reconsidered chasing it. Slaying hordes of monsters had that effect even on SOLDIERs. But since it did, he fumbled and cursed as he equipped his materia and cast Haste.

He managed to catch up with it, and sliced it with his sword before it could figure out what hit it. Cloud canceled Haste and thrust his sword into the ground. Man, he was beat! First a whole pack of Fangs, then some Hell House which did a Suicide Drop that he barely dodged in time. And now these! Honestly, he liked this job and everything, but give the guy a break once in a while!

As he was collecting his stolen Gil he noticed something else. "Woop! A Hi-potion! Hmm, makes me wonder if that Sweeper was packing something… Heh, packing…" He was too distracted to notice something slithering behind him. The creature was lured by the smell of the Prowler's blood and instead of just a carcass found an even juicier meal.

Cloud could feel prickling at the back of his neck. It was that same feeling one gets when they are preyed upon. By the time he turned around though, he was staring right into the gaping maw full of very sharp teeth.

"Fuck."

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AN: What do you think?


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note: This is seriously getting out of hand.**

* * *

Cloud barely had the time to grab his sword and summersault out of the way before that same maw crashed to the place he had occupied seconds ago.

"A Midgar Zolom!? What the Hell are you doing HERE?!" Cloud yelled incredulously at it. They usually inhabited the marshland near the Mythril mines, so why was it this close to the city?

As the snake prepared for another attack, Cloud noticed a greenish substance coming out of its fangs. Mako. Damn, it was probably mutated, which would also explain what it was doing here. It probably crawled out of Midgar sewers. If Cloud's memory served him correctly, he had already battled one that came out of the sewers. But when…

"Argh!" Cloud clutched his head in pain. No! Not now! This was the worst possible moment to black out! He had to concentrate on the monster! Cloud gripped his sword tighter and tried to focus on the monster that saw approaching him with deadly intent. But it was in vain. He could feel his senses dulling and his vision blurring. The last thing he saw before he passed out was a swish of black and a glint of metal.

* * *

For a second, Cloud was stupefied at seeing himself, literally himself, in his old SOLDIER uniform, spiked shoulder guard and wielding a buster sword. Against a Midgar Zolom no less. How long had it been since he had been like that; a reckless teen in an adult's body with power he scarcely knew how to wield?

He had to snap out of it however, when he noticed his younger self clutch his head and stumble back. Flashback. At a time like this it could mean his death! Cloud quickly pulled his own sword from its harness and with a mighty jump, found himself right above the giant snake before cutting off its head. He landed in a perfect crouch with all elegance and poise of a dancer. The body of the dead Zolom simply tumbled down to onto the sandy ground.

Cloud idly flicked the blood off his sword and sheathed it. A groan nearby alerted him that his younger self started waking. Cloud came over to him and took a good long look at his face. Even a few days after his meeting with Aerith, he was still trying to wrap his head around the knowledge that she had shoved into his spiky head. But looking at his twenty-year-old face made him realize it was all real. And that there were possibly/probably more of him running around. Cloud just hoped he wasn't going to meet _his_ future self.

"Fuuuuuck… Talk about bad timing." The younger Cloud sat up and rubbed his head, his eyes clenched shut in phantom pain. It always happened when he tried to remember the specific events from his past. Dammit, he was lucky if he survived! Wait, where was the Zolom?

Cloud jerked up with his sword poised to strike when he froze in mid swing. There, right in front of him, looking unperturbed ever though he had a giant sword pointed at his nose, stood himself. Well, he looked older, and his hair and clothing were a bit different, but nobody could imitate those spikes that well. At least not that he had seen. Coming to a realization, Cloud dropped his sword and huffed in irritation.

"Great, I guess that Zolom did kill me. That, or I'm having some weird flashback induced hallucination. Is that even possible?" The older Cloud couldn't stop his eyebrow from rising if he tried. Was this really how he once behaved? Impossible! He couldn't have copied _that_ much of Zack's personality…Could he? Meanwhile, his younger self continued to rant.

"I mean, I see some pretty weird and scary stuff when I pass out, but I usually don't remember them, I don't even know how I know it was scary, I just know it was. But strange, it doesn't feel like a hallucination, and I'm awake. At least I think I am. Am I? You seem pretty solid." With that he suddenly poked his older counterpart right on the cheek, which seemed to snap him out of his musings. He poked again. This time a gloved hand swatted his away.

"Stop that." The older SOLDIER growled.

"Hey, you can talk! You seem pretty real for a figment of my mind. Are you-"

"I am not a figment of anyone's mind, not even yours." The older warrior growled impressively. "Now I need you to listen to me."

"You're not? Then what are you? Hey, could I be having that weird outer-body experience thingy? Wait, then why don't you look like me? Don't get me wrong, you look really badass, but-" Suddenly a hand was clapped over his mouth.

"First of all, it's an out-of-body experience, and no you aren't having it. Two, I'm as real as you are and you aren't having flashbacks, hallucinations, illusions, or anything of the sort. Three, could you _shut up _for five minutes so I can tell you something important?" Cloud was seriously developing a headache. He didn't know how Tifa did it when she had found him on the train station all those years ago. Oh wait, that hadn't happened yet. Then who did his delusional self meet when he came to Midgar? Was that part of the reason he was acting so completely like Zack? Wait, what year was it?

Cloud growled in frustration again. He so didn't want to be dealing with all this now. "Look, I know you might not believe it, but I'm you. Future you, to be precise. And technically, so are you. I'm not really sure what year it is, but it's not the one you remember it being. Several of us have been thrown back in time from the different periods of our life. Now we have to find the others and set things right. You understand me?" Cloud removed his hand from the other's mouth. The youth could only stare at him dumbly for a few seconds before he started snickering. He tried to muffle it at first but it quickly escalated into a full blown laughter that had him rolling on the ground. The older Cloud, on the other hand, was miffed and a little insulted.

"Bwahahaha! Time travel… Wahahaha! Seriously… *snicker* Man, that's the best joke I've heard since I woke up. Another me… Hahahaa!" The younger Cloud didn't seem any closer to calming himself. Now his elder counterpart was really starting to get irritated. He was tempted to kick him in the ribs just to make him stop. Unfortunately, he needed the idiot on his side if he wanted to succeed and he was pretty sure breaking his ribs would sour any first impressions. They were bad enough already, besides he seemed to be doing a pretty good job of breaking his ribs on his own. Cloud resolutely _refused _to believe he had been like this.

"Okay, okay… *pant* I'm done. *snicker* Ouch, my ribs hurt. 'Twas so worth it! I haven't laughed like this since… I don't think I've ever laughed this hard! Seriously dude, have you ever thought of becoming an actor? Telling that with a straight face… Hahahaha! Man, I needed that." The idiot, as the older Cloud started calling him in his head, grabbed onto his unguarded shoulder for support as he clutched his ribs, and it took all of Cloud's control to keep from flinching. Himself or not, Cloud wasn't used to people just touching him like that. Thankfully, his younger self either sensed the sudden raise in tension or he just needed another hand to wipe the tears from his eyes. Either way, he removed his hand from the veteran's shoulder.

"Okay, now that I'm done, you gotta tell me who put you up to this. Was it Bradley? You know, that guy who sells weapons in the Slums? Yeah, you might want to tell them it would have been more realistic if they got the hair right. It's too shor- OUCH! Hey, why'd you do that for?!" They younger Cloud Clutched his head where the older warrior hit him on the head none too gently.

"Fine, you don't have to believe me, but I still need you help. So I challenge you to a duel." He immediately had the younger man's attention. He almost felt bad about manipulating himself like that. Almost. "If I win, you go with me and help me, if you win I'll give you something you want."

"And how would you know what I want?" The younger one crossed his arms and glared at him arrogantly. Cloud could tell he was tempted though. So instead of giving him an answer, he pulled out one of his Materia. His younger counterpart looked at the orb curiously so he offered it for inspection. The second the younger SOLDIER touched it, he knew it was a high level summon.

"What summon is it?"

"NEO Bahamut. Am I right in thinking I have your interest?" It was his turn to cross his arms arrogantly. And sure enough, Cloud's eyes had lit up like Yuffie's upon finding out which monster it summoned.

"It will be the easiest won Materia ever! But where did you find it?" The ex-SOLDIER handed back the Materia without hesitation, confident that it would be in his possession soon enough.

The older Cloud however got a haunted look in his eyes. He remembered all too well where it was found. In the Crater where Sephiroth rested, frozen in the green ice, waiting for Cloud to bring him the Black Materia like a good, obedient puppet.

Cloud shook his head. Now was the worst time to go down that particular memory lane. He turned to his younger self who was nearly tapping his foot waiting for his answer. Cloud barely suppressed a chuckle at the pouty look he had on his face. Honestly, he kind of reminded Cloud of… a puppy. Hmm, why did that seem so familiar?

"Alright! You don't have to tell me. Come on, let's fight already, I'm itching to get my hands on that Materia. Don't worry old man, I won't go too hard on you." Seeing the leather clad man's eyes glazed over with the ghosts of the past, Cloud knew he shouldn't have asked that, but curiosity had him hoping to hear the answer anyway. But when the man looked at him instead of an answer he got amusement. For a reason he couldn't really pinpoint, it irritated him beyond belief. So he quickly picked up his sword and set his stance.

When that damn man simply raised an eyebrow in amusement his irritation increased tenfold. But his own eyes sparked with incredulousness when the stranger picked up his sword one handed. What was he thinking, hoping to defeat a SOLDIER 1st class with a fake sword? No matter, at least he would get that awesome Materia! With a loud war cry, Cloud ran up to the older warrior, ready to swing his sword at him and stop an inch from his face. What he didn't count on, was a sword just as big as his deflecting his blow.

Startled by the revelation that the sword was, in fact, quite real and that the stranger's strength was on par with his own made Cloud pause his next attack and take a few seconds to assess his opponent more carefully. Now that he got a good long look, he realized he underestimated his opponent so grossly it wasn't even funny. Cloud might have been arrogant, but he knew a hardened warrior when he saw one ready to fight. The calm confidence he radiated gave the impression that Cloud couldn't win even if he had that Neo Bahamut for backup. And he held his sword one handed, even though it he had reflected the Buster sword with it, so it was about as real and as heavy as it.

Cloud wasn't so confident he would win anymore.

However, never the one to be deterred by anything, he attacked again, this time feinting a blow to the left and changing the tip of his sword's course to his right shoulder at the last moment. It was a feat hard to manage, and even harder to evade. The stranger however, dodged it almost effortlessly! Cloud had to turn around quickly to barely manage blocking the sword coming his way. With one mighty push, he managed to jump away from the warrior.

"You're pretty good, I'll give you that." Cloud gripped his sword and dug his heels in the sand. "But not good enough!" With a mighty jump he brought his Buster Sword up to swing it at the stranger's head. He assumed he would block, and then leave his torso unguarded. That tactic failed however when the stranger simply moved out of the way. Cloud had no way to stop the sword from imbedding itself into the ground below, and no time to pull it out and continue fighting. He turned around just in time to see the stranger's face inches away from his own before a fist found its way into his face. Before he lost consciousness, he thought he saw something.

_'Did his eyes just glow?'_

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_AN: And we have a collision of Clouds. Don't tell me you didn't expect that. _

_Overall, what says thou?_


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's apology: Hello my dearest readers! I just wanted to say how sorry I am for my prolonged absence. You see, since the summer has ended I had to return to the bane of my existance: school. Not to mention the Nationals... Ugh, anyway, it's left me with remarkably little free time. *sigh* I wish I was back in High School. **

**On another note, I've been conspiring with a friend from DeviantArt and we might just make something of a cross-over with my other story, Betrayer, and this one. I'm not sure where she's going with it, but I like it!**

**Anyway, here's a little FoC chappie, just to show that I'm not dead. I don't have the time to work on _Timeless_ since it's chapters are like ten pages each.**

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Chapter 4.

Cloud sighed at the unconscious idiot on the ground. He was positively appalled at how easy it was to defeat him. All he could do was swing around a sword, absolutely no tact, barely any technique, with only his arrogance and brute strength as his power. How did he manage to defeat Sephiroth if he had been this bad? Or was that the exact reason it took so long to kill him?

Cloud rubbed his temples to try and fight off an upcoming migraine. He knew Aerith told him they were technically the same person form a different timeline, but there was no way he was this bad. Besides, that punch he dealt him was enough to knock him out for quite some time. Anywhere from thirty minutes to a couple of hours. And they had to get going.

With all the enthusiasm of a child doing his most hated chores, Cloud pulled the Buster Sword out of the ground and tied it with the First Tsurugi's harness. The fact that the two swords together weighted a few times more than him didn't make him any happier about having to heave his younger self onto his shoulder and walk out of the Midgar wastes. It definitely didn't help the fact that they were going to the place that he had last seen reduced to ruins.

Midgar.

It would be a _long_ journey.

* * *

First thing he became aware of was that he was swaying. Back and forth, back and forth. Then there was a light rustling sound. Footsteps on stone or gravel. No, gravel. Stone sounded different, not nearly as much rustling. Then came smell. Smell of leather. And Mako. Also a hint of something metallic. For some reason the combination sent a wave of fear down his spine. He didn't know why. The swaying continued. Rhythmic. Footsteps. But he wasn't walking. Was he? No, his legs weren't moving. What was then? His head hurt. Badly.

Despite the pain and his better judgment, he slowly cracked his eyes open. At first there was no difference, because it was just as black with his eyes open as it was with his eyes closed. But as his eyes adjusted he could see it was actually a black surface. A cloth. A bit further down he could see the ground moving. And somebody's legs going back and forth, back and forth. Walking.

"Urgh…" Great he was getting motion sickness. Wait, he never got motion sickness. Crap, it seemed his stomach had other ideas. Thankfully, the walking stopped and whoever was carrying him put him on his own two feet. And held him in place too, which was good since everything around him seemed to be spinning. Wait, was someone patting his cheek. His hand went to his forehead to at least _try_ and stop the spinning and focus on the person. He squinted his eyes from the harsh glare of the sun behind the stranger. Wait, were they calling his name? How did they know it? If he focused hard, he could just make out the words…

"Cloud … alright? hope… concussion… fingers … holding up?... " He only caught parts of it. Finally his vision stopped swaying for a bit and he could actually see what was in front of him. Was somebody holding some fingers up?

"Six?" Were there six fingers? But how did one have six fingers on one hand? The person holding him cursed and then helped him sit on the ground. Then the man (it was definitely a man, the voice was too deep to be female) started fumbling around his pockets and cursing.

"Damn… you… concussion… harder… thought… potion… drink…" Then suddenly he couldn't breathe and some kind of liquid was being poured down his throat. His first instinct was to choke and spit it out because it could be poison for all he knew, but his nose was shut and he swallowed on reflex. And as soon as the potion pooled in his stomach his vision cleared and his head stopped spinning. He looked up to see the man who had defeated him so effortlessly crouching next to him and supporting his back.

"What the Hell happened?"

"I underestimated my own strength when I knocked you out. Just be happy I had a Potion on hand, it seems I gave you a concussion." So that's what all the talk about fingers, potions and concussions was about.

"Why the Hell did you knock me out?" Cloud quickly stumbled backwards and onto his feet, but when he reached for his sword his hand met empty air. Only then did he notice the extra weight the stranger was carrying. Realizing he was unarmed he clenched his fists and subtly tensed his body for an attack. The way stranger's eyes assessed him told him he noticed it, and yet he remained relaxed, as if he didn't expect him to attack.

"I issued a challenge." He reminded him instead. "The deal was that if I defeat you, you would come with me and help me finish my mission. You lost, if you don't remember."

"Well, yeah I don't remember! You gave me a concussion if you recall! How do I even know you didn't cheat?" Battle stance completely forgotten, he crossed his arms over his chest defiantly. The stranger raised an eyebrow again. Cloud seriously wanted to break his face just so he would stop that infuriating eyebrow from lifting!

"There weren't any rules I could break. Therefore, it was fair no matter how you look at it. And the deal clearly stated that you have to help me with my mission if I win." Cloud immediately opened his mouth to protest, but no words came out. With a groan of frustration he realized the stranger was right. The only rule was that the loser does or gives what the winner demanded.

"Fine. But I want my sword back." The words barely left his mouth and the sword was already hurled at him. He fastened it to his back and crossed his arms again. "And I want to know what mission we are going to, and why you couldn't do it alone. Also, I want some questions answered."

The stranger narrowed his eyes at him. "Questions can be dangerous. You might not get an answer to all of them."

"Well I don't think this one will be that hard to answer. But could you stand still for a sec? I'd like to see something for myself." The stranger tilted his head almost imperceptibly but shifted his weight on his right leg and stood still as a statue. It was almost creepy. Taking the stance as a 'go ahead' Cloud approached him and to both his own shock and the other's leaned forward so much their noses were almost touching. The stranger's eyes widened but he thankfully didn't move.

_'So it wasn't my imagination! He IS a SOLDIER. Why didn't he simply tell me that?' _Cloud smirked and distanced himself before the bigger SOLDIER decided to shove him off.

"So, mind telling me what was that about?" The older Cloud asked coldly. He once thought that even when he was younger he valued personal space. On the other hand, Zack probably didn't even know the definition of personal space, and without Tifa to make the younger Cloud recall even a bit of his real life, it might be that Zack's memory completely overtook his own.

"Just making sure about something. Okay, my first question: Why didn't you tell me you were a real SOLDIER?" Finding out that the 'stranger' was in fact one of his own alleviated most of Cloud's animosity. The older SOLDIER however tensed and looked away.

"That's because I'm not." Cloud ground out.

"What? But your eyes glow and everything! And you defeated me, a 1st class SOLDIER. Well, ex-SOLDIER, but still! How can you not be a SOLDIER?" Cloud was persistent.

"The same way you aren't." The words came out of his mouth before he could stop them. His younger self got a confused expression on his face so he amended his statement before he came to some conclusion that would give him more headaches he ever wanted."I retired."

His younger self's expression softened and he grinned. "Why didn't you say so? Me too! Well, I think I did, or they fired me, I'm not sure. My memory's been pretty fuzzy since I woke up. Guess you're not the only one fond of knocking me out. Ah well, next question: Why do you look so freakishly like me?"

Instead of answering the older SOLDIER at him like he was the biggest idiot that ever walked the Planet. "I believe I already told you the answer."

It took Cloud a second to realize what the older SOLDIER meant. "Dude! You mean you weren't kidding about the time travel thingy?"

When he didn't answer, Cloud sighed in frustration and ran his hand through his spikes, a distinct Zack gesture that sent a small pang of hurt through the other Cloud's chest. Finally, the younger SOLDIER turned to him and glared.

"Alright, let's say I believe you. That would mean you have all my memories." The older Cloud nodded. "Then tell me something only I could know. Let's make this harder: something from 'our' childhood."

That got Cloud thinking a little. If he was right, some of his earliest childhood memories were a safe enough ground to thread, so he didn't have to risk his younger self fainting. But if he had forgotten his promise to Tifa, then what could he tell him?

A flash of brilliance. Cloud smirked and beckoned the younger warrior to come closer, which he did reluctantly. He leaned forward and whispered something into his ear. It had the desired effect as the younger man blushed and backpedaled away from him.

"How did you-? Never mind, I believe you." Still blushing the younger Cloud cleared his throat. "Well, now that we have established that, I guess I should hold up my part of the bargain. So, what is that mission of yours?"

The older Cloud nodded. "Even my knowledge is limited, but I will explain what I know on the way."

"Works for me."

That established, the two Clouds set for their destination: Midgar Slums.

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_AN: What do you think? Like it, hate it? Let me know!_


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